Alexandra Pham put a two-year hold on her journalism career when she decided to get a degree in public policy. The way she sees it, the two fields go hand-in-hand. Pham covers health care for The Boston Globe. On her beat, she writes about issues such as regulatory reform, health insurance, hospital mergers, and health care access.

The youngest of three children, Pham was a small child when her family left South Vietnam in 1975 and settled in Honolulu, Hawaii. As part of an immigrant family that depended on government aid while getting started in this country, Pham has always had an interest in the politics of social services. At the LBJ School, she focused her studies on educational policy. But she says the crucial questions in education are not that different from those in health care: "Who will pay for things? How much does it cost? Who will have access? And how does change come about?"

Pham thinks there's a common misconception that all policy change in our society is driven by the public sector. Her exposure to the medical industry has shown her otherwise, she says. "While Clinton and his policymakers were hashing out things in health care, the private sector was busy making its own reform. You can't ignore that sector."

Describing herself as an "impatient" person, Pham says that for her, part of the appeal of journalism is its immediacy. "I want things to happen now. I don't want to have to wait three years," she says. "You write stories and they appear the next day. Within a few days, you've created conversation. You've created public dialogue."

Contrary to the stereotypical image of the detached reporter, Pham sees herself playing a vital role in the formation of public policy. "You can affect public policy in a number of ways," she says. "You can develop policy. You can implement policy. Or you can bring the public into the policymaking process. That's where I see the media."

Search for Pham's byline on The Boston Globe's Web site.